Force within Our Hearts
by TRikiD
Summary: After so many years of avoiding his tragic past, Sammy is forced to finally face it again for the sake of his team. But he won't be able to do it all on his own, as the pinnacle of his cold heartedness, in which he never expected to see again, returns.
1. Chapter 1 - The Real Reason Why

**Takes place after "Fatally Delicious Candy."**

* * *

Force within Our Hearts

Chapter 1 - The Real Reason Why

"Stop that!"

The others were immediately taken aback by their owl friend's sudden outburst, as Sammy growled and clenched his right wing tightly. But what Volt, Max and Lucy didn't know was the true cause of Sammy's pain; during one of their latest battles with Pascal, the said evil Miniforce ranger somehow shot him with a beam from his spear.

And now, the energy of that beam still seemed to have affected the red owl, as he felt a painful twinge in his shoulder.

"Sammy, are you alright?" Max questioned with worry.

"What's wrong?" Volt inquired.

"Let me take a look at-."

"Don't touch me!" Lucy gasped and froze when Sammy once again lashed out on her, even though she was only trying to help.

"B-but…Sammy, I…" Lucy whimpered in shame.

"Dude, there's no need ta get so upset about it," Volt protested firmly, "She was just trying to help."

"Whatever. I'm outta here," Sammy grumbled and jumped out of the bathtub that used to be filled with bubbles and joy, but now there was only tension and confusion.

Sammy was usually very angsty, but never _this_ angsty. Something was wrong…

* * *

That night, the Susie helped the Miniforce dry off from their bath with a gentle air-dry from her hairdryer. But no matter how hard Susie tried to keep the colorful animals in line, Volt, Max and Lucy constantly fought over who should be dried off first.

"Ok, guys, c'mon! Everyone will get a turn!" Susie reassured with a giggle, but then she saw Sammy at the edge of her bed, once again away from the crowd, "Here, Sammy, you should dry off."

"Nope. I'm fine," the red owl protested, turning away with his arms crossed.

"Suzy, do me first!" Volt begged.

"No, I think Sammy should go first." With that, the redheaded girl turned on the hairdryer and aimed it at the back of Sammy's head, instantly creating a dent in his crimson feathers…which he wasn't too fond of.

"I told you, I'm fine," Sammy warned, quickly peeking one eye open.

"Aw, c'mon! You'll feel much better once you're all warm and dry!" Susie argued with a smile, and continued to deliberately blow dry Sammy. But as the others waited for her to finish, Susie lowered the hot air down to the faint wound on Sammy's right wing.

"Ouch, damnit! That hurt!" Sammy scolded and jumped back.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Susie apologized and quickly pulled the hairdryer away.

"I told you I was fine! Why don't you listen to me?!" the red owl continued ranting angrily.

"Whoa, Sammy, calm down! What's with the attitude?" Volt boldly cut in, no longer tolerating his friend's outbursts.

"Yeah, she didn't _mean_ ta do that," Max added.

"A-and there's no need for such profanity, either," Lucy pointed out sheepishly, still shocked from Sammy's cursing.

"Just forget it! I don't need any of you!" Sammy snapped and bolted out of the room, once again clutching his ailing wing close.

"Seriously, what's up with him? He's being even more of a black sheep than usual," Volt pondered aloud.

"Maybe he's sick?" Lucy suggested. But as the Miniforce rangers discussed their fellow teammate's strange behavior, Susie couldn't help but fear that there was something far worse behind all of this.

* * *

At the same time, Nine and his second in command Pascal were plotting yet another evil scheme, but the dark purple former Miniforce ranger had some rather interesting news for his master this time.

"Master Nine, do you recall the meteorite that crash landed just a few days ago?"

"Of course I do. My Zero Bots say that the compacted darkness it contains is beyond comprehension," Nine replied with a conniving grin.

"Precisely. I have extracted a fracture of that darkness into my spear, and I've managed to hit one of those pesky Miniforce brats with that same power. Think about it, Master Nine: Soon, he will no longer be able to resist the temptation of darkness…" Pascal explained darkly.

"And he'll join us at his own accord," Nine finished matter-of-factly, quite satisfied with what he was hearing, "Well done, Pascal. Very well done. With the power of another Miniforce ranger aiding us, we'll certainly be unstoppable."

"That's the plan, Master," Pascal informed smoothly.

* * *

The next day, the other Miniforce members and Susie still couldn't figure out what was wrong with their owl friend, and even Sammy himself couldn't find the real problem. So, Sammy went outside to go on a nice stroll and calm his nerves, but Susie's little brother, Louie, was also playing in the front yard with a boomerang.

"Here goes!" Louie laughed and flung his boomerang across the yard, running after it to try and catch up. But as he chased it into a U-turn, he finally realized it was heading right for Sammy, and he wasn't even paying attention.

"Sammy, look out!" The said red Miniforce ranger, though usually very quick and light on his feet, could not heed the boy's warning quickly enough this time, and Sammy was ultimately struck hard in the face with the boomerang.

The impact was so great, it sent Sammy flying back and landed square on his injured wing, only increasing the aching pain even more.

"Oh, my gosh! Are you ok, Sammy?" Louie called with great concerned, and even kneeled down to his help him back up.

"Don't touch me!" Sammy suddenly snapped, making Louie gasp and pull back from the scowling owl.

"Oh…Sammy, I'm so, _so_ sorry!" Sammy only growled and quickly jumped up to walk away.

"Whether it's Susie or Louie, they're just such a bother," the red owl muttered under his breath, once again holding his aching wing, "I wish humans would just…all disappear."

Suddenly, Sammy's Force Gem alarm sounded, and no sooner had he took it out of his pocket had he heard Volt's voice from inside the house. "Sammy, c'mon, let's go!"

So, the red Miniforce ranger sprinted into the house and followed his other teammates down into the secret headquarters below, where they were met with the same hologram of Commander Chen in the middle.

"Pascal has gotten his hands on a mysterious meteorite's energy," the old white cat announced, and then his hologram turned into that of the same meteorite he was describing.

And the mere second he saw the holographic meteorite, something about felt strangely familiar to Sammy. "A meteorite, huh? What powers does it really have?"

"That meteorite came from a dark nebulas nearly fifteen hundred light years away from Earth. It consists of solid minute space particles, in which are made up of a vast amount of dark energy. If Pascal uses this dark energy, his evil will be greatly magnified and quite formidable. Move out immediately and stop Pascal!"

"Sir, yes, Sir!" the four Miniforce rangers saluted in unison.

* * *

Not long after their meeting with Commander Chen, the Miniforce quickly made their way to Pascal's location, where there was already a large group of defenseless animals fleeing in terror.

They quickly assembled their Force Bows and effortlessly took out the oncoming Zero Bots, but Pascal and his two brawny minions were still standing.

"So, you finally showed up? I was worried there wouldn't be anything to _spice up_ this little party," Pascal taunted.

"Well, we're here ta crash your party!" Max warned.

"What're you planning this time, Pascal?!" Volt demanded.

"You think I'd just tell you?" Pascal scoffed, clutching his spear tightly and a bright light illuminating from the crest, "I wouldn't want to spoil the surprise."

As the light of Pascal's spear grew brighter, the pain in Sammy's wing quickly grew more immense, making him collapse to his knees and groan in agony.

"Yes, perfect," Pascal hissed gleefully.

"What are you talking about?" Lucy questioned with fear.

"Whatever it is, it's not good," Volt told his female teammate.

"Enough! Silence these Technicolor bastards NOW!" Pascal's two large henchmen quickly followed his orders, and suddenly activating secret jetpacks on their backs.

"You guys can't even fly!" one of the goonies laughed mockingly.

"And you think you can defeat us?!" the other taunted. Unfortunately, the very mentioning of being incapable of flight triggered something in Sammy. The red Miniforce ranger somehow ignored the growing pain in his right shoulder, and he pulled out his Force Bow again.

With all the strength he had left, Sammy pulled back and managed to hit both of the henchmens' jetpacks with a lucky single shot, sending them both flying away into the sky like hilariously deflating balloons.

"Useless waste of space," Pascal growled in disappointment, once again causing a great light to emit from his spear, "Fine. I'll just take care of you myself."

With that, an bright purple beam of powerful electricity was fired from Pascal's spear, but the Miniforce all managed to jump out of the way in time…all except one. Due to the pain in his shoulder, Sammy was much slower than usual, and he was hit directly in the chest with the electric beam. But the red ranger didn't collapse as quickly as Pascal had expected.

"Hmm, that wound may have made you immune to my light attacks—very well, then—I'll just use my stronger attacks!" Pascal shouted at the top of his lungs, twirling his spear above his head before firing an even larger beam than before at Sammy.

But lucky for Sammy, Lucy jumped in just in time to summon a magical pink shield, safely deflecting the electric attack.

"We can't keep waiting around like this! If you can't fight anymore, just say something, Sammy!" Volt ordered.

"N-no! I-I'm fine, I swear!" Sammy quickly protested and feebly stood back up with some more groans, but it seemed to be enough to convince the blue ranger anyway.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you have a weak link," Pascal chuckled darkly, "But you can use that, Sammy—I shall bid you all farewell! Until then, Sammy, take care!"

The dark purple former ranger then disappeared in a cloud of purple dust, leaving the real Miniforce in a state of confusion.

"What would he just flee like that? Something's up…a-and what's he talking about, Sammy?" Lucy asked with concern, but she didn't get a response, "Sammy? Sammy?!"

She and the others finally realized that their red friend had collapsed onto the ground once more, and he lay silent and motionless.

"Sammy! Sammy, wake up!" Max begged and leaned down, scooping his limp body into his arms to carry him back home.

* * *

Max carried Sammy back to Susie's house as quickly as he could, and Lucy and Volt helped him get the injured owl into bed afterwards. Soon, all of them, even Louie, were surrounding Susie's bed, where a dormant and sweating Sammy lay.

"How could he do this? Sammy's always secretive, but he's too smart to hide such an injury," Volt muttered with worry.

"Either way, we still don't know what's actually hurting him," Lucy pointed out, just as Susie gently reached out and raised Sammy's right wing, revealing the bright purple glowing wound.

"I-is it supposed ta be doing that?" Max questioned with a cocked brow.

Just then, the red owl meekly blinked his eyes open, and the first thing he saw was the face of his friends.

"I don't think he's doing so well, Susie," Louie whispered to his older sister.

"I know…it's so hard to see you like this, Sammy," the said owl's vision began to blur, as he started breathing rapidly, but he could still just barely hear Susie's worrisome voice, "You're the strongest guy we know, Sammy, but we know that you really need help this time. So, please, help us help you."

"Yeah, we're always here ta help you, no matter what!" Sammy's eyes meekly flinched over to Volt and the others at the edge of the bed, where their figures were even fuzzier.

* * *

His friends had all waited by his side all day and well into the night, falling asleep by the bed to stay with him the whole time. But poor Sammy wasn't able to sleep as peacefully, as he twitched in his sleep while recalling a vivid, horrid memory.

* * *

 _"_ _You'll never catch me, Slow Poke!" a voice giggled, echoing gently in his head._

 _"_ _Slow, eh?!"_

 _Young Sammy then dive bombed into a small, soft sky blue object, sending them both careening into the limb of an old oak tree. The two young owls somehow landed safely enough without injuring themselves, despite their bumpy landing._

 _And after shaking many leaves down, they were both covered in a pile of leaves, and they couldn't help but laugh at the other. The sky blue owl with Sammy giggled even louder, especially when a couple of leaves formed a mustache on Sammy's beak._

 _"_ _It's not funny!" Sammy protested and quickly brushed the leaves away._

 _"_ _It is, too!" she protested with another hardy laugh._

 _"_ _Oh, yeah?!" With that, the red owl lunged at his friend, once again letting gravity pull them down, and onto another larger branch farther down the tree. But despite lunging at her first, Sammy was somehow pinned down by the girl._

 _"_ _Pinned ya," she chuckled boastfully._

 _"_ _Alright, Sky, you win! Now lemme up!" Sammy whined and squired beneath her until she finally let go._

 _Suddenly, their fun was rudely interrupted when a rock blazed past them, just barely missing. They looked down to find a couple of little boys at the base of the tree, and one of them had a slingshot._

 _"_ _Sky, get out of here!" Sammy demanded and quickly pushed the sky blue owl to the edge of the branch._

 _"_ _What about you?" Sky protested in fear._

 _"_ _Don't worry about me, just go!"_

 _"_ _But-!"_

 _"_ _NOW!"_

 _Without another word, Sky quickly took flight to avoid the fire of the boy's slingshot. But it was not to be when the boy quickly reloaded with an even smaller rock, sending it flying even faster with a whip and it effortlessly struck her left wing._

 _"_ _Bulls-eye!" the boy with the slingshot cheered._

 _Sky cried out in agony as she spiraled down to the earth, the canopy of the forest blocking the sight of her landing. But just seeing her plummet, most likely to her death, was enough to drive Sammy to tears._

 _He was about to fly after her himself when another rock was fired, successfully grazing his right wing._

 _"_ _There it is! Get it!" the other boy called with a sneer, and the other boy quickly reloaded. Sammy managed to dodge the next rock by hiding higher in the tree, but he tested his luck when he peeked around the corner, allowing the boys to spot him again._

 _Ultimately, his right wing was hit once more, this time right at the joint, and the force of the impact pushed him out of the tree. And when Sammy landed on his already injured wing with a loud snap, he knew it was broken._

 _He could hear the boys laugh and high five before fleeing the area to avoid getting caught by authorities, but Sammy swore he would take care of them himself if he wasn't in so much pain._

 _Pain. Something he rarely felt and always denied, and now there was too much. He was uncertain if he would ever fly again…and he had also lost his best friend. All because of humans!_

 _"_ _Sammy!" The said young red owl turned his head when he heard his name was called, and he couldn't believe it when he saw none other than Pascal standing on a hilltop. How was he here, in his own memory?!_

 _"_ _For someone who has endured so much pain, why are you even making an effort to make peace with the humans?" Pascal explained firmly, "I mean, just look at you. Because of humans, you've not only lost your ability to fly—but also the only light of your life, right?"_

 _Sammy looked down in disgust and terror, trying to use as much will power to ignore the temptation of Pascal…no matter how right he was._

 _"_ _Join me, Sammy, and we will make all humans pay for what they've done to you. No one will ever hurt you again."_

* * *

Another splitting headache and a flash of white light finally awoke Sammy from his terrible nightmare, as he shook his head and grabbed it tightly to ease the pain, but to no avail.

But Sammy could no longer deny it. He now knew this pain wasn't caused by the beam of Pascal's spear—it was caused by the anger and darkness in his heart.

* * *

 **Yes, this is a Miniforce fanfiction. For what it lacks in good English dubs, it makes up for in rather very pretty animation...that, and Sammy's just the bestX3**

 **So, hope you enjoyed chapter one!**

 **Until the next chapter, I'm TRikiD, bye-bye!**


	2. Chapter 2 - See the Light Again

Chapter 2 - See the Light Again

Sammy could no longer associate himself with animals who fraternized with humans, so he decided he would abandon them all together. Nearly without any hesitation, the red Miniforce ranger snuck away to Nine's secret fortress. Once inside, he either snuck passed or destroyed any Zero Bots in his way, and eventually found Pascal with his back turned to him.

"Welcome—Sammy." The said red ranger nearly flinched when hearing his name being spoke in such darkness, but he couldn't go back now. Pascal slightly turned and continued, "Finally, you are where you truly belong. And now, you can take your vengeance out on those humans—for this."

The dark purple former Miniforce ranger then grabbed Sammy's right shoulder in a vice grip, making him gasp in shudder in pain.

"I won't lie to you, though. You chose this path, and you're going to follow it. Do I make myself clear, Sammy?" Pascal growled, leaning closer to make sure he had his attention.

"Y-yes…M-Master Pascal," Sammy reluctantly replied, convincing his new master to let go and chuckle darkly in appeasement.

* * *

When morning came again, Volt and the others awoke to a surprise: Sammy was gone without a trace. But before they could look for him, their Force Gems suddenly went off. And so, Volt, Lucy and Max quickly headed down to their secret headquarters, where a hologram of a very disappointed Commander Chen was already waiting.

"Something terrible has happened. Our very own Sammy has been corrupted, forced to join Pascal's army," the old white cat sadly informed.

"What?! How could this happen?!" Lucy cried.

"I don't believe this!" Max shouted in disbelief, "Sammy would _never_ do something like that!"

"Not on his own, he wouldn't. Something tells me Sammy's aggressive behavior had to do with that wound…" Volt pondered aloud.

"You're very right, Volt. Sammy was unfortunately struck with the dark powers of Pascal's spear during one of your last battles, and the darkness that seeped into him was too strong for even _him_ to resist. And when the meteorite fell, the ultimate evil concentration multiplied to power of Pascal's spear, further tainting Sammy's unfortunate past."

"Sammy's unfortunate past?" Volt asked with surprise.

"When Sammy was young, his wings were broken beyond repair by a couple of delinquent boys and their slingshot—ultimately, stripping him of his ability to fly forever," Commander Chen informed the blue squirrel.

"Oh, poor Sammy…and we had no idea," Lucy whimpered, tears threatening to spill from the emotional pink cat's eyes.

"I still can't believe this," Max hissed, the yellow beaver baring his teeth in rage, "How could someone do that ta Sammy?!"

"As morbid as Sammy's past is, it is all in the past and there is nothing we can do to change that," Commander Chen cut in firmly, "But what we _can_ do is help him see the light again."

Suddenly, Commander Chen's transmission was cut off, and a holographic screen of Pascal took its place. "Greetings, Miniforce! I would like to introduce my newest and most trust worthy henchman—come on out!"

"Sammy?!" all three Miniforce rangers exclaimed when none other than Sammy appeared next to Pascal on the screen.

"I'll have you all know that you are always welcome to join Sammy—and be my subordinates," Pascal pointed out darkly, but the blue leader of the Miniforce was not happy, as he scowled and growled at the hologram.

But Pascal ignored Volt's belly aching and continued on, "If you want to see Sammy again, you can find him at the abandoned factory _any_ time. Besides, who doesn't love a _murderous reunion_?!"

The transmission blinked away with Pascal's cackling laughter, leaving Volt even angrier than before.

"Don't worry, Commander! We'll rescue Sammy immediately! Let's go, Miniforce!" Volt firmly reassured, and prepared to head out with Lucy and Max.

"Hold on!" The others screeched to a halt when the old cat called after them. "You won't be able to turn Sammy back to normal all on your own—you're going to need the help of a very special friend."

* * *

Pascal and Sammy waited alone in the abandoned factory they told the Miniforce to meet them at. And soon, the red, yellow and pink Miniforce rangers showed up in one of the old warehouses, and Sammy and Pascal were waiting for them in plain sight on the other side of the rusted building.

"Well, you're early. Eager to die, are we?" Pascal taunted.

"No, we came to rescue our friend!" Volt quickly protested.

"Sammy, c'mon! We know you're in there, Buddy!" Max begged.

"We believe in you, Sammy, just come back to us!" Lucy pleaded.

"I'm sad to say that the Sammy you knew is gone forever—there is only my apprentice of evil, now," Pascal pointed out with a hiss, in which Sammy gave a saluting nod to.

"What did you do ta him?!" Max boomed.

"Nothing, really—just corrupted him with a little dark magic, is all," Pascal chuckled as the crest of his scepter began to glow, "It's not too late for you to let the darkness take you as well."

"You're such a coward, Pascal! Forcing the only light left in this world to work for you by brainwashing it!" Volt snapped, "Well, it'll _never_ happen!"

"Hmm…very will," Pascal sighed in disappointment, "We shall do this the hard way. Get them!"

At Pascal's command, a fleet of Zero Bots flew out to attack, but the Miniforce quickly summoned their Force Guns and handled them all. But even though the cronies were all taken out, there was still one of Pascal's henchmen they didn't account for.

"Sammy—dispose of them."

"Yes, Master!" With that, the red Miniforce ranger used his powerful legs to lunge at his old teammates, firing at them with his Force Gun and effortlessly driving them out of the warehouse.

Sammy followed them out into the parking lot, the opponents standing at opposite sides like a western standoff as the red ranger had his gun pointed at his old friends.

"No! Sammy, stop!" Sammy only ignored the cries of his pink friend.

"Don't do this, Sammy!" The demands of his former blue leader went unheard, as he only tightened his finger over the trigger.

"How does it feel to have a friend as an enemy?" Pascal mocked and waited behind Sammy to watch the carnage. But either way, he was going to have some fun, too. So, the dark purple ranger summoned more power to his scepter, firing at his enemies with no hesitation.

But Lucy once again came to the rescue by summoning another magical shield, just barely deflecting the powerful beam in time. The force of the beam still sent a shockwave throughout the three Miniforce rangers, knocking them all back effortlessly.

"Time for the finishing blow, Sammy," Pascal ordered his red apprentice.

"Yes, Master Pascal," Sammy replied with a firm nod, aiming his gun at Lucy first.

"NO!" Sammy was perplexed when he heard the familiar voice of Volt and Max, as the blue and yellow rangers sprinted to shield Lucy with their own bodies.

"You'd never shoot her, Sammy—you'd never shoot _us_!" Max protested, tears obvious in his breaking voice…and Sammy lowered his gun for a mere second.

"Yeah, Sammy! We're your friends, and we believe in you!" Volt tried to get through to him.

"LIAR!" Sammy snapped, raising his gun and tightening his trigger finger once more, "You don't know what I've been through, or what those damn humans have done to me!"

"You're right, Sammy," Lucy began meekly and stood back up, "We'll never understand the pain you've endured all your life—which is why we brought someone who does."

"What're you blathering about?" Sammy sneered in disbelief.

"Sammy!" A far away voice called, and it sounded new yet…familiar. And it grew louder. "Sammy!"

Sammy swore memories were flooding back, especially the tragic memory of when he broke his wing…and when he lost _her_. But just when the thought of his dearest friend was beginning to clear up, the red Miniforce ranger suddenly got the wind knocked out of him by a dive bombing blur of light blue.

Sammy grunted when he landed hard on his back, and the impact was powerful enough to send his Force Gem flying right out of his pocket. Without his Force Gem, Sammy quickly morphed right back into a small owl.

But there was still one thing very different about him, and that was the darkness that clouded his eyes with rage and revenge, as they showed his very anger with an aura of bright purple colors. Even as Sammy leaned back up and threatened the object on top of him, the evil within prevented him from seeing what was really there.

"Sammy, please! I'm not the enemy here, _we_ are not the enemy here!" the sky blue object begged, trying her best to hold Sammy down as he continued to squirm violently beneath her. "We were best friends, Sammy! Why can't you just see that?!"

Sammy suddenly froze when the angelic voice began echoing throughout his head and memories, causing more to come back to him. He grunted and gripped his head in pain, starting from when the boys knocked him out of a tree and broke his wing, then going farther back to when he would soar through the sky like an eagle…and finally, he saw _her_ again.

 _"_ _Sammy, you're my very best friend."_

 _"_ _And you're mine, too, Sky."_

 _"_ _We'll always be friends forever, right?"_

 _"_ _Yeah, forever!"_

It all came back to Sammy. His eyes went wide and his beak agape, as the evil within faded away and he could finally see the beauty before him. It was Sky, an owl like him, and his best friend; she wasn't as young as she used to be, though, as she was even more beautiful in Sammy's eyes than when she was just an owlet. And Sammy could never look away from her warm and beautiful silver eyes, as they helped pull his from the temptation of Pascal's dark powers.

"S…Sky?" Sammy uttered meekly, and smiled for the first time in a very long time.

"Oh, thank goodness you're ok!" Sky cried out in tears of joy, even pulling Sammy into an unexpected hug. And even though he was taken by great surprise at first, Sammy couldn't help but hug back even tighter.

"How dare you?!" Pascal interrupted with a boom.

"Told you we'd win, Pascal," Volt informed boastfully, "Evil _never_ triumphs over good."

"No, you can't do this, Sammy! These are the bastards that help humans, the same ones that took away your ability to fly! Because of them, you're barely even a bird at all!" Pascal raged on.

"You may be right about, Pascal," Sammy began firmly, pulling out of the hug before turning back into a ranger, "But that's all in the past. Thanks to my friends, I've learned to move on."

"Ugh! Fine! Since you really _do_ want to do this the hard way, than let it be so!" With that, the dark purple ranger slammed his scepter on the ground, creating a shock wave and quickly disappearing afterwards. But the battle wasn't over yet, when the shockwave summoned a cycloptic Mechamon from within the old warehouses.

"Get out of here, Sky!" Sammy ordered the said blue owl.

"The last time I listened to you, I thought I lost you forever!" Sky protested and flew up to Sammy, "I'm never leaving you again."

"Guys, now's not the time ta be all lovey-dovey! Summon the Force Cars, team!" Volt cut into the touching moment, and Sammy reluctantly followed orders and summoned his Force Car like the others.

Soon, the Force Cars were transformed and ready for action, but the cycloptic Mechamon quickly retaliated with a powerful blast, striking all Miniforce rangers. But Sammy was once again the only one able to dodge the attack, as his enhanced agility came in handy again.

"Oh, no! I can't move!" Lucy panicked when her Force Bot fell to the ground and lay motionless.

"Mine, too!" Max added in terror.

"It's the power of the meteorite! Just one hit, and the Force Bots are out of commission!" Volt explained, "Sammy, it's up to you!"

Sammy froze and gulped when he realized he was the only one who could stop the Mechamon now.

"You can do it!" Sky called, flying in circles around Sammy's Force Bot, "You can do it, Sammy! I believe in you!"

"So do we!" the other three Miniforce rangers cheered.

And from there, Sammy finally realized the true power that his friends had given him, and he was so blind as to not see it before. Even when he was corrupted by Pascal, it was obvious. And with his oldest and best friend back as well, Sammy truly felt unstoppable.

"Alright! Volt, Max, Lucy, I need you to give all the remaining energy from your Force Bots!" The others hastily followed their red friend's orders, and sent the remaining power in their Force Bots to Sammy's.

Soon, Sammy's Force Bot glowed with immense power, and he began effortlessly deflecting the Mechamon's attacks, allowing him to prepare his own retaliation. And without hesitation, Sammy used the combined strength of his friends and swiftly attacked the cycloptic Mechamon with a Force Blow.

In the blink of an eye, the Mechamon's torso was split in half by the Force Blow and sent him collapsing into a large pile of scrap metal. Good has once again won.

"We did it!" the Miniforce cheered.

"Good job, Sammy," Sky giggled softly.

* * *

That night, the Miniforce and Sky all returned to the village of Bluebell, where Sammy went to discuss some important matters with Susie.

"Susie, I…I heard you loud and clear, and I know how hard you tried to take care of me," Sammy began bashfully, as emotional speeches weren't his favorite topics, "So, I'm eternally grateful."

"Oh, I'm just so glad you're ok!" Susie cried hysterically and suddenly scooped the red owl up in a tight hug, much to his dismay.

"Hey, wait a minute! I said I was sorry, not invade my personal space!"

As poor Sammy squirmed in Susie's strong grip and called out to his friends for help, they couldn't help but laugh at his misfortune. Even Sky couldn't hold back a few giggles, as she slowly snuck away to leave Sammy spend some time with his new friends. She knew she and Sammy were still close, but she couldn't possibly invade in all the new friendships he's made.

But eventually, Sammy managed to escape the redheaded girl's bear hug, just in time to notice that Sky had mysteriously disappeared. So, he ran out of the house without another word and out into the front yard in search of Sky. He saw nothing but the clear and starry night sky, illuminated by the bright full moon, and the sound of many chirping crickets filled their air.

But there was still no sign of Sky.

"I really like your new friends," came a gentle voice, and Sammy quickly turned to find Sky landing, "They seem nice."

"W-well, y-yeah! They're nice and all, b-but they could never replace you!" Sammy sheepishly reassured.

"And vice versa," Sky added softly, her smile growing as she gently hugged Sammy, "I've really missed you."

"You think I didn't miss you?" Sammy asked with shock, but still hugged back, "I thought you were…you know…"

"A goner? I thought I was done for, too. But when I fell out of the sky, there was a lake to break my fall, and the park ranger that chased the boys away took me to a vet…but after I was fully healed, I went back to look for you and you were gone."

Sammy could hear the obvious sorrow in Sky's voice, and he felt especially guilty when she sighed and pulled away from him, but she smiled at him again anyway.

"But just know that I couldn't happier to see you again, Sammy."

"Y-yeah…same here, Sky…a-and one more question: You're really never leaving me again?"

"Of course not! To live the daring life of fighting evil with the Miniforce sounds way too fun!"

The two old friends couldn't help but share a little laugh at that, but they still knew it was true, nonetheless. Nothing would ever separate them again.

* * *

 **Could you spot the Fox and the Hound reference?**

 **Also, do not fear! The story is far from over!**

 **Until the next chapter, I'm TRikiD, bye-bye!**


End file.
